Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the terrible events of last night. We stand in solidarity with the people of Manchester.

As a mark of respect for the victims of the Manchester bombing and because of the seriousness of the security situation, General Election campaigning had been suspended. 

UPDATE: General Election campaigning will resume in Hackney on 25/05/2017.

Welcome to my February- March Mayor’s Report.

Dear Member,

Welcome to my February- March Mayor’s Report.

This month started with the passing of the Council’s 2017-18 Budget, you will have by now received next year’s Council Tax Bill and my cover letter, more information about the Budget will be in the next issue of Hackney Today and was also covered in last month’s report. I was pleased we won concessions in the UK Budget on Business Rates, but it remains to be seen how the system of reliefs will work in practice and also what Hackney’s allocation of ‘new’ social funding will be.

Across the Cabinet we have been campaigning and lobbying the Government. Many of us took part in #OurNHS March and we have also written to the Government about police numbers and funding, the Dubs Amendment and education funding. I was privileged this month to meet one of the Syrian families the Council has helped to settle in the borough and we continue to work hard to reach the target of seven families.

I was pleased to join Cllr Williams in launching the Council’s new apprenticeship programme which is a significant step forward in meeting the commitments I made in last year’s by-election to increase the number of local opportunities for work experience, employment and training.

At the end of April alongside a team of councillors and staff I am running the Hackney Half Marathon for Speaker of Hackney’s charities North London Action for Homeless & Hackney Migrant Centre, please consider sponsoring us: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/hackneyspeaker/

Best wishes, 

 The full report from Mayor Philip Glanville for Feb  & Mar 2017 can be downloaded here

Welcome to my January – February Mayor’s Report.

Dear Member,

Welcome to my January – February Mayor’s Report.

This month has been dominated by finalising the Council’s budget and responding to some of the challenges we face around business rates reevaluation, threats to the local NHS and the MOPAC consultation on policing (update next month).

Hackney has been one of the boroughs hit hardest by Tory austerity measures. Since 2010, the Council has had to find £152 million to balance its annual budget, due to cuts to the grants we receive from Government, and rising cost pressures of £42m. More cuts in future years mean that from 2010/11 to 2020/21, the Government’s annual grant to Hackney will have fallen by £139m, a drop of 45%. We have to pass a balanced budget, but in the decisions we make, including to increase Council Tax, we will always focus on how we can preserve services, especially for the most vulnerable. I go into more detail on the budget below.

While we have to make difficult decisions, we can’t manage decline, that’s why the budget I’m proposing also commits us to: invest in our streets and parks, maintain and expand our supply of council homes, build the new schools we need, invest in our leisure centres and take the long term-decisions we need to improve and grow our town centres. I have also taken the time to meet with representatives of the borough’s voluntary sector about the difficulties they face and we have to work together on regeneration, young people and employment and skills.

Best wishes and apologies that I can’t be at the GMs this month hope to see you on the ‘Keep our NHS Public March’ on 4^th March, 

The full report from Mayor Philip Glanville for Jan  & Feb 2017 can be downloaded here